240V Halogen Light Fittings

[rhamer]

Has anybody got any experiences to share about 240V Halogen lights and C-Bus dimmer units?

Does it work ok? Are there any traps? Does it effect globe life?


Regards

Rohan

[MichaelCarey]

I have ten 20W halogen downlights in my lounge, four in my dining room and three in the kitchen. In the two years since my renovations, I have had only one blow. Most of the time, the lounge room lamps are at 70%, very rarely do I set them to 100%. They are arranged in two circuits, four in a square in the middle of the room and six arranged around the perimeter. At first look, there is no pattern, but after looking for a while you can see that there is order in the apparent chaos. I found 20W lamps to be ample, I never use 50W.
Regards,
Michael.

[rhamer]

Thanks Michael,

Just to confirm, are the 240v or 12V Halogen.

I have used 12V down lights extensively in my last house with similar results to you

Regards

Rohan

[MichaelCarey]

They are the 12V variety with dimmable switchmode "transformers"

[Alex]

I've been running about 30 x 230 volt halogens (ranging from 100 - 300 W per lamp) running off C-Bus dimmers for about 2 years. I haven't really noticed any differences compared to running low voltage lamps via transformer, or compared to running them off non-C-Bus equipment. Lamp life seems about the same.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that you need to pay attention to the notice on the dimmer units which states that the loads are not fully isolated when they are off. If you inadvertently touch a terminal in the fitting while replacing a blown lamp, there's enough current available to trigger a 30 mA RCD...

[Paulk]

I installed about 24 x 12V 50W fixtures with good old copper/iron transformers in 1998, paid a little extra for 4000hour lamps from EYE lighting. All my downlights are on CBUSv1 dimmers.

So far, I have had only one lamp fail, one transformer fail. So for 6 years domestic use (above kitchen bench, living room etc) I am happy. Gotta love CBUS dimmers soft start. However I have noticed that the reflective coating is failing on the lamps with more hours on them, this reduces there light output a little.

I see there is an ongoing debate in a well known Australian electronics magazine about the pro and cons of LV halogen lighting. For my 2 cents they have there place in a home, but I have seen them over-done in some display homes. eg 8 fixtures = 400Watts to light your kitchen...


Regards
Paul

[MichaelCarey]

This is why I used 20W lamps. My ten downlights give 200 watts spread around the room, plenty of light....

For my 2 cents they have there place in a home, but I have seen them over-done in some display homes. eg 8 fixtures = 400Watts to light your kitchen...


Regards
Paul

[PSC]

I have tested 240v halogen lights on CBus dimmers and they seem to work fine and you don't get that annoying transformer hum when running @ less than 100%.

The only downside that I have found is the lamps (globes) seem to get a little warmer that the 12v equivalent.


PSC.

[Duncan]

I'm happy to report 240v Halogen Downlights work extremely well with the Wireless Units too :) I have four banks of 4, 4, 4 and 6.